About progress

Do you know that nagging feeling that you (seemingly) don't make any progress? After reading several articles in Japanese today, I don't feel any different than yesterday or last week. I try to work on it everyday, but sometimes I wonder when my Japanese will be as good as I want it to be. 

Improving your Japanese (or whatever language you are learning) is like growing taller as a kid. You can't really feel or see that moment of growing. You don't think suddenly 'Whoa, hey! I'm growing!'. There's nothing that let you know that you are now some millimeters higher than yesterday. You won't feel any different. Eventually you will notice that your clothes are getting 'shorter' and your shoes are getting 'smaller'. In other words, you will notice the difference only after several millimeters or even centimeters!

Back to language learning. When you work constantly on your skills you will regularly make small improvements. But you will only notice the difference after they piled up. It's not that you watch a video in your target language which is far above your level and one day you wake up and understand suddenly everything perfectly. No, you will gradually understand more and more. It will not happen over night. 

You want to say something in your target language but you don't know how to express your thoughts?  Or how to talk about a certain topic? Or do you always make the same mistakes? Constantly look for gaps and fill them. Concentrate on getting better rather than worrying about your progress. Focus on little improvements. They will steadily pile up and let you reach the next level. 

Every step in the right direction (even the little ones) will eventually take you to your destination.